Public Health & Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kafr-Elsheikh University, Kafr-Elsheikh, Egypt.
Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.
BMC Cancer. 2024 Nov 21;24(1):1438. doi: 10.1186/s12885-024-13204-7.
Cervical cancer, though one of the most common cancers affecting women globally, holds immense potential for prevention through screening. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis to assess the rate of cervical cancer screening in Arab countries and identify barriers among those who did not participate.
A comprehensive search was conducted from January 1st to June 1st,2024, including all observational studies that reported cervical cancer screening uptake in any Arab country. A meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model to estimate the pooled prevalence, and sensitivity analyses were conducted to test the robustness of the findings. The study followed PRISMA guidelines.
This meta-analysis, covering 55 studies and 204,940 Arab women, found an overall cervical cancer screening uptake rate of 18.2% (95% CI: 13.9-23.6), with sensitivity analysis confirming the reliability of this estimate. Country disparities were evident, with Bahrain having the highest uptake at 44.1%, while Somalia had the lowest at 8.9%. Among women who underwent screening, the majority were ever-married (94.7%) and held positive attitudes towards screening (91.0%). Barriers to screening were common among women who did not participate, with the most frequent reasons being a lack of information (25.1%), the misconception of feeling healthy (24.5%), fear of the procedure (19.3%), and feelings of embarrassment (13.2%). Additionally, women who were screened had lower perceived barrier scores (SMD = -0.466) and higher perceived benefits scores (SMD = 0.379) than those who were not (p < 0.05).
This meta-analysis reveals a low overall cervical cancer screening uptake (18.2%) among Arab women. Key barriers such as lack of information, fear, the misconception of feeling healthy, and embarrassment hinder uptake. This alarmingly low rate underscores the urgent need for targeted interventions to address these barriers and promote awareness of early detection's life-saving potential.
宫颈癌是全球最常见的女性癌症之一，但通过筛查，这种癌症具有巨大的预防潜力。因此，我们进行了这项荟萃分析，以评估阿拉伯国家的宫颈癌筛查率，并确定未参与筛查的人群中的障碍因素。
我们从 2024 年 1 月 1 日至 6 月 1 日进行了全面的检索，纳入了所有报告阿拉伯国家任何人群中宫颈癌筛查参与率的观察性研究。采用随机效应模型进行荟萃分析，以估计汇总患病率，并进行敏感性分析以检验结果的稳健性。本研究遵循 PRISMA 指南。
这项荟萃分析涵盖了 55 项研究和 204940 名阿拉伯女性，发现总体宫颈癌筛查参与率为 18.2%（95%CI：13.9-23.6），敏感性分析证实了这一估计值的可靠性。各国之间存在明显差异，巴林的参与率最高（44.1%），索马里的参与率最低（8.9%）。在接受筛查的女性中，大多数已婚（94.7%），对筛查持积极态度（91.0%）。未参与筛查的女性中，常见的障碍因素包括缺乏信息（25.1%）、认为自己健康（24.5%）、害怕检查（19.3%）和感到尴尬（13.2%）。此外，与未接受筛查的女性相比，接受筛查的女性感知障碍评分（SMD=-0.466）较低，感知益处评分（SMD=0.379）较高（p<0.05）。
这项荟萃分析显示，阿拉伯国家女性的总体宫颈癌筛查参与率较低（18.2%）。缺乏信息、恐惧、认为自己健康和尴尬等关键障碍因素阻碍了筛查的参与。如此低的比率突出表明，迫切需要采取有针对性的干预措施来解决这些障碍，并提高对早期检测救命潜力的认识。
